# AVAIO Emergency Generator Pre-Permitting Correspondence The file group documenting the **DEQ ↔ AVAIO air-permit pre-application track for Project Leo**, October 2025 – March 2026. Files: the four Kimbrough-inbox prints of the "questions re: emergency generators for data center (AVAIO)" thread, `AVAIO Emergency Generator Question….pdf`, `Avaio FOI.pdf`, the dated prints `260206 -email.pdf`, `260313.pdf`, `260313-email2.pdf`, `260319-email(2).pdf`, `260323-email.pdf`, `260326-email(- Copy).pdf`, `260609-email(1)(2).pdf` (June-9 re-prints with the full attachment stack), plus the technical attachments `3000 kW Engine Data.pdf` (Cummins, 114-page set), `Avaio Partial Load Data w PM Little Rock.pdf` (Miratech), and `2026-01-15 NSPS Stationary Combustion and Gas Turbines 91 FR 1910 2026-00677.pdf` (the Federal Register turbine NSPS Allison cited for its EEA-as-emergency definitions). No air-permit application for Leo had been filed as of this production. The whole record is pre-filing positioning over one question: **can Tier 2-certified diesel engines with SCR/DPF retrofits ("Tier 4 equivalent") be permitted as "emergency" engines that may also run during ESA-mandated curtailment events?** ## Timeline established at Tier 1 - **2025-10-30 — pre-application meeting.** "Yes, we did meet with the facility on 10.30.25. During that meeting the facility provided that they would install **62 emergency diesel backup generators** and be subject to NESHAP 4Z and NSPS 4I" (Kimbrough, 2/9/26, `Re_ questions…Outlook1.pdf`, p. 1). Attendees: "facility representatives Joe Hubbard and Tom Nesel as well as consultants from Trinity" (`RE_ questions…Outlook2.pdf`, p. 1); DEQ side per the Neil email: Erika Droke, Demetria Kimbrough, Thomas Rheaume. See [[2025-10 DEQ Pre-Application Meeting with AVAIO]]. - **2026-02-05/09 — internal DEQ regroup + virtual meeting.** Golly Easterly: "Mike told me that you met with these guys back in October. Did they give you any kind of information about what kind of generators they'd be working with or whether they thought they'd fall under NSPS Subpart KKKKa? I'm guessing they didn't give y'all much" (2/6/26). Rheaume: "I heard they were emergency use generators with Tier IV controls, higher controls than needed for emergency use. They'd fall under JJJJ or IIII" (2/9/26). AVAIO participants per [[Mark Allison]]: Nesel, Hubbard, [[Kevin Murphy]], [[Melody Neil]]. - **2026-02-10 — the NERC EEA framing arrives.** Allison ([[Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP]]) forwards Nesel's follow-up: a NERC Energy Emergency Alert primer and the new NSPS KKKKa final rule, arguing it "defines EEA1, 2, and 3 as 'System Emergencies.' Though for gas turbines, this generally indicates any EEA1,2, or 3 event as defined by NERC are considered an emergency" (`AVAIO Emergency Generator Question….pdf`, p. 1). - **2026-03-03/05 — the Commerce channel** (separate page: [[AVAIO Tier 4 Equivalent Email to the Commerce Secretary]]) and a 3/5 internal meeting in "Mtg Rm 6W31 Legal" with Allison invited. - **2026-03-12/13 — Nesel asks for a working session**; "Yes. We are considering submitting a title 5 with more hours of runtime and I would like your thoughts" (`260313-email2.pdf`, p. 1). - **2026-03-16/17 — Paula Parker's four technical questions, answered in-line**: displacement "4.3L/cylinder (77.6L/18 cylinders)"; certification — "These are certified emergency engines… 'Engine certified to Stationary Emergency U.S. EPA New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), 40 CFR 60 subpart IIII **Tier 2** exhaust emission levels'"; permanent emergency-use-only labels — yes; added controls — "Diesel Particulate Filters and Selective Catalytic Reduction" per the Miratech partial-load data (`Avaio FOI.pdf` / `260609-email.pdf`, pp. 1–3). - **2026-03-19 — DEQ opens a path**: "There may be a path forward with permitting 'Tier IV equivalent' emergency engines through Title V permitting" (Kimbrough, `260319-email.pdf`, p. 1). - **2026-03-23 — the statutory hook**: "the specific portion of the NSPS discussed today was 60.4211(g)(3). We believe that this could apply to for T5 permitting of the Tier 4 engines with SCR controls and diesel particulate filter ('Tier 4 Equivalent') that you would like to install" — with the EPA vacatur-documents link for the RICE NESHAP/NSPS emergency-engine provisions (Kimbrough, `260323-email.pdf`, p. 1). - **2026-03-26/30 — follow-up meeting** set for 3/30 9:00 AM, Trinity ([[Trinity Consultants]], Amy Moore, Shannon Lynn) now CC'd "as we prepare the permit." ## The hardware (attachments) - **Cummins QSK78-G37 / C3000D6EB**: 3,000 kWe Emergency Standby / 2,750 kWe "Data Center Continuous"; 18-cylinder, 77.6 L; "EPA TIER 2 NSPS CERT. (STATIONARY EMERGENCY)"; full-load fuel burn 204 gal/h (`3000 kW Engine Data.pdf` within `260609-email.pdf`, pp. 7–17). 62 such units ≈ **186 MW**. - **Miratech project sheet** "Avaio Digital - Little Rock // C3000D6EB": "Operating Hours per Year: **200**"; raw NOx 9.00 g/bhp-hr at 100% load → estimated controlled outlet **0.30 g/bhp-hr** (SCR + DPF; NH₃ slip < 10 ppmvd) (`Avaio Partial Load Data w PM Little Rock.pdf`, p. 1). - **Virginia DEQ APG-578** (produced as `VA Emergency Engines Planned Outages.pdf`, also attached to the Commerce email) — "what Mississippi pointed to for their decision" (Cerney, 3/5/26). ## Key takeaways 1. **The "emergency" label is doing regulatory work.** AVAIO's units are certified Tier 2 — lawful only as emergency engines — and the entire thread is about widening "emergency" to cover ESA-mandated curtailment (NERC EEA events), so the cheaper-certified fleet can serve as a quasi-dispatchable resource without Tier 4 certification or PSD review. DEQ never commits in this record; its furthest step is "may be a path forward… through Title V permitting" plus a citation to §60.4211(g)(3). 2. **Two engine-count statements coexist**: 62 units at the 10/30/25 pre-app and in the Neil email; the Mississippi sibling uses 50 units for a 110-acre site ([[ADP Rankin Data Hub Mississippi Air Permit Application]]). No Leo application yet fixes the number. 3. **DEQ's internal candor is preserved** ("I'm guessing they didn't give y'all much"), as is the role of outside counsel and the Trinity consulting bench on both AVAIO sites. ## People and orgs mentioned - [[Tom Nesel]], [[Joe Hubbard]], [[Kevin Murphy]], [[Melody Neil]] (AVAIO); [[Mark Allison]] ([[Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP]]); [[Trinity Consultants]]. - [[Demetria Kimbrough]], Thomas Rheaume, Golly Easterly, Paula Parker, Karen Cerney, John Mazurkiewicz, Michael McAlister, Erika Droke, Amanda Land (DEQ). ## Concepts invoked - NSPS Subpart IIII / NESHAP ZZZZ; NSPS KKKKa (turbines) as the EEA-definition lever; 40 CFR 60.4211(g)(3); Title V. ## Events documented - [[2025-10 DEQ Pre-Application Meeting with AVAIO]]; [[2026-03 AVAIO Seeks a Tier 4 Equivalent Ruling via the Commerce Secretary]] ## Cross-references - [[AVAIO Tier 4 Equivalent Email to the Commerce Secretary]] — the parallel executive channel. - [[Project Pyramid Title V Air Permit (2507-AOP-R0)]] — the already-issued Groot analogue (232 Tier 2 emergency engines, permitted as emergency-only). - [[Where the Buildout Remains Contingent]] — Leo's "no air permit" leg of the unbuilt legal floor; this record shows the application being shaped but not filed. ## Open questions / follow-ups - Watch for the Leo air-permit application (minor source vs Title V; hours of runtime; whether curtailment-as-emergency language appears). - Whether DEQ issued any written "Tier 4 equivalent" or curtailment-as-emergency determination after 2026-03-30 — not in this production; candidate item for a follow-up FOIA window.